On Thu, 5 Aug 2010 09:20:33 -0400, "Peter"
wrote:

"tony cooper" wrote in message
.. .


If I ever post an image of a rare tree snail, it will an image that
*I* took and an image that is presented without false claims of being
deliberately degraded. If it has been altered (as my recent violinist
photo was), that fact will be stated as full disclosure. I'm not
trying to fool anyone.


Tony,
If an image is presented as a pictorial, why do you feel disclosure of
things like a background change is necessary.

It depends on the forum and where the image is displayed. I don't
participate in Flickr, but I might put the image up there without the
disclosure. This forum, though, is different.

There's an issue of credibility here thanks to our
participant-of-many-names. On careful examination of the violinist
photo, you'll see some careless masking around the violin strings. If
I don't tell you the photo has been significantly altered, you might
start doubting my credibility on other photos.

This particular image was a project photo anyway. I thought it was a
good project for practicing using a layer mask to drop the background.
There are so many little areas (mostly around the violin) where the
original background showed through that the detail work was extensive.

Here's the original taken straight from RAW to .jpg.

http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/photos...3_BHGFw-XL.jpg

That area around the hands and violin strings was a bitch to mask. I
had to use a shot of the same trees so the masking around the girl's
hair wouldn't show.

I think that if you are
presenting a PJ shot, where background is a part of the scene, or a pure
nature shot, no alteration other than normal adjustments should be made. for
purposes of my comment I define "normal adjustments" as one which enhances
the image without changing its essential message. IOW the reason the shot
was taken, should not be altered.

If I am presenting a pictorial, I think anything goes.
That of course, is just my opinion.

When I link to photos in the "Street" photography forum I participate
in, I leave them as-shot as far as intrusive background. In that
group, background stuff is quite acceptable that would be criticized
here. We are expected to shoot scenes as we see them and not to go
for posed shots. We can edit for contrast (most shots are in black
and white) and other "normal" adjustments.

This shot was well-received in that forum, but would be roundly panned
he
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...7_W7ACa-XL.jpg



--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida